John Coltrane left an indelible mark on the world, but what was the essence of his achievement that makes him so prized forty years after his d... read full description
reviews
Feb 28, 2008
Mike
rated it: 
In most of the readings I have done on jazz, the problem I usually encounter is the writing about technique and technical aspects of the music. As I am not a student of music, I have a little difficulty getting my brain wrapped around the technical jargon. This was the case for parts of this book.
However, for the most part, I found the book illuminating in that it helped me to better appreciate, or rather better articulate my appreciation for, the music and the work of John Coltran More...
However, for the most part, I found the book illuminating in that it helped me to better appreciate, or rather better articulate my appreciation for, the music and the work of John Coltran More...
Jan 12, 2010
Ernie
rated it:
Quick, fun, yet highly insightful read.
While most music critics concern themselves with drawing distinctions between the various stylistic phases of a musician's career, Ratliff pursues the unity of a musician's 'sound' — "a full and sensible embodiment of his artistic personality, such that it can be heard, at best, in a single note," (x). For him, Trane's 'sound' is the end result of "a slow but unstoppable process" (202) that unified his diverse experiments wi More...
While most music critics concern themselves with drawing distinctions between the various stylistic phases of a musician's career, Ratliff pursues the unity of a musician's 'sound' — "a full and sensible embodiment of his artistic personality, such that it can be heard, at best, in a single note," (x). For him, Trane's 'sound' is the end result of "a slow but unstoppable process" (202) that unified his diverse experiments wi More...
Jul 28, 2011
Tim
rated it:
Like most people my age, one of my first introductions to jazz was with the music of John Coltrane. Even before I heard his music, I knew his name. Growing up as a child of the 80’s, Coltrane was everywhere in pop culture references. From the decadence and excess of that decade came a vision of jazz that was almost too superficial in some respects. It became “high society” to listen to the music, even if a person didn’t really understand it. Musicians talked about Coltrane constantly…being a big
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Nov 08, 2011
Brian
rated it: 
I love the first half of this book. Ratliff does some great research and deftly describes Coltrane's sound without relying too much on musical theory jargon (which can often be deadly for people who aren't musicologists). The second half, though, loses a bit of steam and is far less coherent. Still, for fans of Coltrane, this is a welcome addition to growing body of work on the musician.
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Sep 11, 2011
Lou
rated it:
I'm torn about my star rating for this review. The book is very well written and probably not intended for someone like me. I'm not a musician, nor an intellectual and I felt at times like I was in over my head when reading this book. Mr. Ratliff attempts to delve into what John Coltrane was trying to achieve through his music. I'm sure he researched extensively and there are several interview excerpts peppered throughout, but in the end, it all feels a bit like a science experiment. While I enj
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Aug 06, 2010
Adam
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This is not amazing prose, but it’s well-researched. I imagine historians and jazzbos alike would be disappointed with this book. But if you’re like me, and love Coltrane because you love the sounds, songs, and playing on his records, then you might like this book. As a jazz music listener outsider, I’d say that this book is a great introduction. As the sub-title of the book claims, it’s the story of sound of Coltrane. Of course, there’s touches of biography, history, cultural trends, and p
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Mar 11, 2009
Matt
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I've started plenty of books about Coltrane and never finished one. This book, though technically involved (plenty of discussion of sixteenth-notes here) is astonishingly easy to read, and Ratliff has a razor-sharp ability to see the finer points in Coltrane's music and influence as points of departure for a larger thinking about jazz's place in history, rather than relying on the usual "Coltrane was god and we'll never see another like him" approach, which makes for boring literature
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Feb 16, 2008
Laura
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I loved this book! I am a jazz neophyte and picked up the bok to learn more. It didn't look scary - the book's not too thick, the type a reasonable size. Ultimately, I did need to look up a few words as my vocabulary has shrunk since my last vocab test - but I really enjoyed this book. I used wikipedia for information since the book picks up at a pivotal moment in jazz - after bebop, before hard bop, to free jazz, and to modern times. I needed to research context a bit before I could wrap m
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Oct 08, 2007
Tim
rated it:
Ben Ratliff is the chief jazz critic for the New York Times and his highly anticipated biography of the legendary saxophonist and composer John Coltrane is a sightly uneven mix of musical and social history. Ratliff's stated goal in this book is to not focus as much on standard biography, but to chart the evolution of Coltrane's music. It's a short work, broken into two roughly 100 page segments, the first being a just-the-facts-ma'am recounting of the evolution of his music, and then the second
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Dec 08, 2011
Liam
rated it:
It's a bit disconcerting to read a book about jazz written by a guy who is roughly the same age as myself (Mr. Ratliff was born in 1968), as most people my age don't listen to jazz very much, if at all. Ben Ratliff is a reporter for the New York Times, however, and fully lives up to the standard which that implies. I have read several books about John Coltrane, and this one is easily the best. It is both thorough enough for the musician or serious scholar of jazz not to lose interest, bu
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Aug 06, 2010
David
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So much Coltrane criticism veers toward either hagiographic hyperbole on one end or academic sleepy times on the other. Ratliff cuts a clean middle path. In doing so he manages to critically address not only the music but the greater Coltrane legacy without getting tripped up in the redundant bickering that has so often characterized writing on the saxophonist's work. Really, the best thing I got out of reading this book was an introduction to a Coltrane record I somehow missed- 1964's Crescent
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Jun 29, 2011
Frank
rated it: 
Covers more about Coltrane's music than about his life. My interest in Coltrane comes from Carlos Sanatana and John McLauhlin rather than from a strong Jazz background. I'm not a huge fan of the free Jazz I have heard so far, most of it sounds too much like noise to me.
I enjoyed learning about how Coltrane was trying to find his own voice and be true to his own vision.
I enjoyed learning about how Coltrane was trying to find his own voice and be true to his own vision.
May 18, 2009
Shek
rated it:
A very smart, very well-written book on jazz's final sax God that admires him rather than worships him, and succinctly explains and deconstructs his mythology, understanding it as an inevitable and destructive force in music. Ratliff concentrates on the development of Coltrane's style - his practice habits, his improvisational methods, his embouchure, his tone, and his interactions with musicians ranging from the group leaders he came up with to the neophytes he'd invite up to the bandstand in h
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Feb 21, 2008
Phil
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Man, this book's a gem. Had read three previous Trane books; this smokes 'em all. Ratliff writes about music on a weekly basis for The New York Times but that didn't prepare me for this. Essentially, he's interested in two things: what influences and choices and reflections led Coltrane to forge the path he did, and why Trane's death discombobulated jazz. He examines both threads in detail, writes intelligently about the actual music without losing the non-player (like me), fearlessly deconstruc
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Sep 17, 2009
Beau
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I'd be lying if I said I understood 100% of the theory talk in this book, but I love reading about musical geniuses and the stories behind the creation of their work. Ratliff strikes a nice balance between really hardcore music nerdery and language the layperson can understand.
Jan 15, 2009
Drew
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A MUST read for Coltrane fans. Less a straight biography, more of an examination of his recording career, style and prgrassion as an artist, and lasting influence.
Nov 16, 2011
Art
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This is a nice overview of Coltrane's career, his influences, and his sound. As a sax player, I enjoyed the detailed discussions of the evolution of Coltrane's music.
Jul 10, 2009
Jay
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A well written book that could both serve as an introduction to John Coltrane's music and infrom those already familiar with his body of work.
Apr 24, 2010
Charles
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biographical, attention to form, insightful. a great offering of arguably the most important artist of the 20th century.
Nov 17, 2008
Lucky
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I'm not really such a fan of bebop or hard bop, or whatever you want to call it, but it's always interesting to me to read about different kinds of musicians; their journeys, their relationships, their approach to sound. This book focused almost entirely on the music of Coltrane, i completely skips over his youth, and starts write at the beginning of his professional music career. A lot of it was interesting, but at times it seemed to me, it went on like a bebop song, words for the sake of wor
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May 28, 2008
Richard
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Broken down in a non technical way that helped give me more insight as well as things to listen for the next time I pop in some Coltrane.
The emphasis many listeners and musicians place on jazz always needing to evolve, rebel, or push boundaries (myself included) never struck me as such a stumbling block before reading this book.
Learning to hear jazz as more of a folk idiom should be a challenge for me.
Appreciated the punk-rock angle - nods to Iggy Pop, Mike W More...
The emphasis many listeners and musicians place on jazz always needing to evolve, rebel, or push boundaries (myself included) never struck me as such a stumbling block before reading this book.
Learning to hear jazz as more of a folk idiom should be a challenge for me.
Appreciated the punk-rock angle - nods to Iggy Pop, Mike W More...
Nov 24, 2011
Deej
rated it:
I have to say that this book is written for "Muso's". The musical lingo would be baffling to someone who isn't familiar with it. I found this book difficult to read after about the half way point because I thought it was a book of Ben Ratliff telling people who would like to read a biography on Mr. Coltrane just how much he knows about music.
If you don't know your lydian from your dorian you shan't be allowed to learn! And that, for me, is why it gets two stars. (It's also More...
If you don't know your lydian from your dorian you shan't be allowed to learn! And that, for me, is why it gets two stars. (It's also More...
Jun 22, 2008
Ron
rated it:
Ratliff isn't interested in Coltrane's biography so much as in the impact of his music on the jazz that came after him. He understands the importance of jazz as a collaborative medium, where playing styles are constantly influenced by interactions with other musicians and internal responses to the music that came before. Coltrane is "the last major innovator in jazz" because that's how critics and musicians view him; so how did they come to view him that way?
Apr 01, 2008
Jeff
rated it:
Provocative, well-written, and concise look at the evolution of Coltrane as a musician and how his sound shaped jazz in the decaes after his death. Essential reading for fans, but I can't shake the sense that Ratliff doesn't entirely dig Coltrane. I mean, what's up with a Trane book that devotes three times as many pages to random saxophonist Marcus Strickland as to Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, both of whom actually played with the man?
Nov 20, 2007
Bob
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When I first heard about this book, I thought: What possibly can there be new to say about John Coltrane? In terms of his musical development and style, not much.... but the second part of the book deals with Coltrane's cultural and extra-musical influence, which has been huge (and essentially brought jazz to a standstill - no one since can escape his shadow). Plus, Ratcliff is quite readable.
Nov 10, 2008
Emily
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I finally finished this book and found reading about jazz from a critics eye very interesting. Mr. Ratliff split the book into 2 parts: Coltrane's musical biography and the critical response to his music. I think these could have been integrated into one story, but still a good read. I got out my Coltrane albums last night and enjoyed them even more.
Sep 25, 2011
Sergio
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this could be described as a biography of coltrane's sound, instead of his life. it does go back and forth, but it tries to stay on the question of the music and it's evolution through the decade or so of coltrane's kneedeep exploration of Sound. the writing gets a bit bleh at times, but it's one of the best i've read.
Aug 06, 2010
Torellana1014
rated it:
If you don't already know this John Coltrane is the Man...that's pretty much it. The way he approached creativity, technicality and spirituality in art is inspiring. I think this writer does a decent job of analyzing music and John Coltrane for both musicians and non musicians.
Apr 30, 2008
Jon
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A great book about the great jazz musician. I know the music so well that when Ratliff discussed some of the prime cuts of Coltrane's recorded output, I heard it in my head. This book is really an exploration of Coltrane's huge, all-encompassing sound.
Sep 12, 2008
Rob the Obscure
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If you are a Coltrane enthusiast, it doesn't get much better than this. This book is NOT a Coltrane biography, per se. Rather, it is an analysis of how his sound developed in the context of his life events. WONDERFUL
